Home Office

Home Office: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Home Office will publish records of external meetings held by special advisers to its ministers.

Lord Bates: The Government publishes an unprecedented amount of data; departments publish details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries’ meetings with external organisations, and Special Advisers' meetings with senior media figures.The information requested is not held centrally and there are no plans to extend current arrangements.

Begging and Vagrancy

Baroness Gould of Potternewton: To ask Her Majesty’s Governmentwhether they have any plans to repeal the provisions contained within the Vagrancy Act 1824, which allow for homeless people to be arrested for begging.

Lord Bates: We have no plans to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824.

Asylum: EU Countries

Lord Higgins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether EU member states within the Schengen area are issuing a standard form of passport or other document to those they accept as asylum seekers or whether individual countries decide on the format to use; whether they have examined any sample of such document; and if so, whether they will place in the Library of the House any examples they may have.

Lord Bates: Under Article 25 of the Qualification Directive asylum seekers accepted as refugees in an EU member state will be issued a refugee status travel document, in the form set out in the Schedule to the Geneva Convention, for the purpose of travel outside their territory unless there are compelling reasons of national security or public order which prevent this.It is normal practice for member states to distribute specimen documents between states. All specimen documents are stored securely in the UK.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

North Korea: Human Rights

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 2 February (HL5229), and in the light of Freedom of Information Act 2000 Request 0986-15, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s stated rationale for each project undertaken in North Korea and the distinction between human rights and humanitarian work, whether they will increase funding for human rights projects in North Korea, and what was the total UK funding for projects with a human rights rationale between 30 September 2013 and 8 October 2015.

Earl of Courtown: The existing bilateral programme fund, run by our Embassy in Pyongyang, has contributed to a number of projects aimed at improving the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). These include helping to improve food and nutrition for people in rural areas and equipment for the physically disabled. In addition, our funding of English language projects and visits to the UK for government officials, exposes DPRK citizens to other values and cultures. We assess that many of our existing projects contain a human rights element, without strictly being defined as a human rights project. In the coming year we will continue to fund such projects where possible and will assess future human rights projects under the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. The amount spent on projects categorised as containing a human rights element between 3 September 2013-8 October 2015 was £270,046.61.

Attorney General

Al-Sweady Inquiry

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Director of Public Prosecutions about the possibility of charges of fraud, corruption, conspiracy and attempting to pervert the course of justice being brought against lawyers working for Leigh Day and Public Interest Lawyers with regard to the Al Sweady case.

Lord Keen of Elie: The Crown Prosecution Service routinely provides the Attorney General with updates on cases and casework issues. In accordance with the practice adopted by previous Law Officers the Attorney General does not usually comment on which individual cases are raised with him.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Literacy: Young People

Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the UK economy of poor literacy skills on the part of 16–24 year-olds.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: There are a number of ways in which the Government assesses the impact of poor literacy on the economy. On 28 January 2016, the OECD published its report ‘Building skills for all – a review of England’. The report was commissioned by BIS following the publication of the OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills in 2013. Key findings from Building Skills for All are:Nine million adults in England have poor basic skills.Overall, in terms of proportion, this is average for OECD countries, but England’s young people lag behind other countries.A third of 16-19 year olds in England have poor basic skills – three times the proportion than in high performing countries.Eliminating the tail of low achievement could increase long term productivity growth by around 0.5%.The BIS Research Paper 195 ‘Estimation of the labour market returns to qualifications gained in English Further Education’, published in December 2014, shows that there are higher returns to qualifications achieved at younger ages and that English (and maths) Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications provide an additional wage uplift for achievers of higher learning aims. Increased earnings and employment rates following training provide an indication of the positive impact on the economy of improving skills. In 2012, when the PIAAC carried out the survey fieldwork for both reports, only 70% of 16-19 year olds were participating in education and training that leads to a formal qualification; compared to almost universal participation in some other OECD countries. Since then the participation age in England has been increased to age 18 and action has been taken to improve GCSE qualifications and raise standards in post-16 education. These reforms have been welcomed by the OECD in its latest report. . Since changing the requirement for all learners who did not achieve a Level 2 in English and maths by the age of 16 to continue to study these subjects as part of their 16-19 study programme, we have seen a positive effect on participation and attainment. In 2014/15, 97% of 16 to 19 year olds without GCSE A*-C English and/or maths attending an FE institution continued their study of these subjects. In 2015, for 17-year-olds and over, entries for English rose by 23% (30% for maths). As a result, last year there were over 4,000 more GCSE passes at grades A*-C in English by students aged 17 and over (7,500 more maths passes).On 5 February 2016 we published a new report on the impact of poor English and maths from the perspective of employers. Some key findings are: The vast majority of employers surveyed reported no issues with the literacy of their employees.Employers that do offer basic skills training reported positive impacts on aspects of work such as the number of errors (63%), better capacity to meet statutory requirements (58%), being able to introduce new processes (52%) and being able to produce higher quality products (51%). The full report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/poor-basic-literacy-and-numeracy-effect-on-employers



Literacy and Numeracy skills
(PDF Document, 1.3 MB)

Exports

Baroness Burt of Solihull: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether they will meet their target of doubling exports by 2020.

Lord Maude of Horsham: Ministers have acknowledged that the £1 trillion target is a stretch; however, the Government has a clear strategy for increasing both the value of UK exports and the number of British exporters. Progress in delivering against the target will be reported through the ONS.

Exports

Baroness Burt of Solihull: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of exports that will be sold to other EU member states by 2020.

Lord Maude of Horsham: The government does not breakdown 2020 export forecasts geographically.However, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility does publish UK total export forecasts up to 2020, with the most recent publication being in the November 2015 Economic and Fiscal Outlook: ExportsImports 2016533.6556.8 2017557.4581.4 2018585.4609.5 2019616.3639.0 2020648.0669.7 Source: November 2015 Economic and fiscal outlook

Overseas Investment: Burundi

Lord Boateng: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of UK investment in Burundi and its contribution to gainful employment in that country.

Lord Maude of Horsham: There is no official data available on the level of UK investment in Burundi as data on UK trade with Burundi is not published by the Office for National Statistics.

Trade Unions

Lord Monks: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the 1984 agreement on trade union political funding between Lord King of Bridgwater and Lord Murray of Epping Forest, then General Secretary of the TUC.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: I have placed in the House Library a copy of the exchange of correspondence from February 1984 between the Secretary of State for Employment and the General Secretary of the TUC.

Department for International Development

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to use the UN Security Council Resolutions on Syria to organise air-drops of food by the World Food Program to besieged areas, and to provide air cover for such drops with the US air force.

Baroness Verma: At the "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016" Conference on 4 February, more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Commitments made at the Conference will help to create 1.1 million jobs and provide education to an additional 1 million children. The UK remains at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have doubled our commitment and have now pledged a total more than £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. The most effective way to get food and other essential aid to people who are starving and in desperate need is for Assad and all parties to the conflict to adhere to international law. Across Syria, Assad and other parties to the conflict are wilfully impeding humanitarian access on a day-by-day basis. It is an outrageous, unacceptable and illegal mechanism to use starvation as a weapon of war. That is why the UK will continue to call on the Assad regime and all parties to the conflict to allow immediate and unfettered access to all areas of Syria. Right now, aid delivered by road, by UN agencies and by others who know the situation on the ground and who can ensure it gets to those who need it most is the best way of getting help through. But we always consider the most effective way to get assistance to the people in need, and we do not rule anything out.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether means have yet been found, through UN agencies or otherwise, for purchasing the large supplies of grain recently available in the Jazira Canton of Syria.

Baroness Verma: At the "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016" Conference on 4 February more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict. This is the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Commitments made at the Conference will help create 1.1 million jobs and provide education to an additional 1 million children. The UK remains at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have doubled our commitment and have now pledged a total more than £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. The UN reports that the potential to purchase grain from the Jazira Canton of Syria is unchanged compared with their analysis of June 2015. The Jazira Canton, covering the wheat producing areas of Al Hassakeh and Ar Raqqa, remains under the control of the Syrian regime, the Kurdish authorities and Daesh. Humanitarian access to these areas is therefore, restricted by continued violence, insecurity and wilful obstruction. Control of access routes in the Jazira Canton by armed groups means that the UN are unable to access wheat producing areas, assess the quality of the wheat produced, or transport it to other regions. In addition, the milling capacity within Al Hassakeh governorate is insufficient to meet the operational needs of the UN. According to the UN, bread availability in Al Hasakeh and Ar Raqqa is currently adequate, thus reducing the need for the UN to buy wheat grain for local distribution. The UK is the second largest bilateral donor to the UN World Food Programme , committing £227 million to provide food support in Syria and the region since the start of the crisis. By the end of June 2015, UK support inside Syria had provided over 15.1 million food rations, each of which feeds one person for one month; access to clean water for over 1.6 million people; and more than 4 million relief packages.

Department for Education

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Meacher: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of comments be the Chief Executive of Mumsnet stating that the Department for Education's proposal to prevent organisations from objecting to the admission arrangements of schools will "add to parental dissatisfaction".

Lord Nash: The Government’s proposed changes are designed to make sure that the Schools Adjudicator can concentrate on parental complaints. We want to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on any concerns which parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school and that the Adjudicator is not held up by the need to consider objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.The changes are still subject to a full public consultation and the Department will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

Faith Schools: Admissions

Viscount Ridley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a number of religiously selective schools have sought to require all parents to commit to supporting the particular religious ethos of the school as part of the admission process; and what assessment they have made of the impact of any such practice on the encouragement of applications from a diverse range of religious and non-religious backgrounds.

Lord Nash: I refer the Noble Lord to my response to questions HL5900 and HL5901, submitted to Parliament on 18 February 2016.

Faith Schools: Admissions

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association last year claiming widespread breaches of the School Admissions Code among religiously selective schools, what assessment they have made of the impact on the number of breaches of the School Admissions Code of preventing groups and organisations from submitting objections to school admission arrangements.

Lord Nash: I refer the Baroness Lister to the answer to HL5704, which was submitted to Parliament on 12 February 2016.

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps the Department for Education has taken to ensure that schools whose admission arrangements were objected to by the Fair Admissions Campaign in 2014 and 2015 have changed their arrangements in line with any determinations of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.

Lord Nash: A decision made by the School’s Adjudicator is binding and enforceable. Where the Adjudicator upholds an objection about a school’s admission arrangements, the statutory School Admissions Code requires the school’s admission authority to revise their admission arrangements to give effect to the Adjudicator’s decision within two months of that decision, or by 28 February following the decision, whichever is the sooner. Should an admission authority fail to comply with this requirement, the Secretary of State is able to take action to require them to comply.

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the comment made in the 2014–15 annual report of the Chief Schools Adjudicator, that "the complex [admissions] arrangements of some schools do not serve local children well".

Lord Nash: I refer the Baroness Lister to the answer to parliamentary question HL5707 submitted to parliament on 12 February 2016.

Ministry of Justice

Probate

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the annual cost of the Probate Registry and the yield from fee income.

Lord Faulks: The cost of the Probate Registry in 2014/15 was £42.5m and the yield from fee income (after remission) was £41.5m. The costs relate to probate for “non-contentious” cases, that is where the Will is not in dispute.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Olympic Games

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support has been given to the British Olympic team during the years 2014 and 2015.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: UK Sport’s investments in sports are made on a quadrennial rather than yearly basis, with all investment decisions and levels reviewed annually. In the current 2013-17 Rio Olympic and Paralympic cycle, UK Sport are investing around £350 million in the Summer Olympic and Paralympic sports, and a further £31 million in the Winter Olympic and Paralympic sports, targeting success in PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2022.

BBC: Royal Charters

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 1 February (HL5390), whether the consent of both Houses of Parliament will be required before the granting of the BBC Royal Charter.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The BBC's Royal Charter is granted by the Privy Council and all appropriate steps will be taken in advance of this, including debates in both Houses of Parliament. The format of these debates has not been decided.

Cybercrime: Small Businesses

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the light of the number of cyber attacks against them in 2015.

Baroness Shields: The Government’s National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) aims to tackle cyber crime and make the UK the safest place in the world to do business in the world. This includes the Cyber Essentials Scheme to protect businesses against common cyber threats and the cyber streetwise campaign which offers simple cyber security advice to small businesses and consumers. In addition to the £860 million investment under the NCSP between 2011-2016, in November 2015 the Chancellor announced a new five year £1.9 billion investment in cyber security to make the UK one of the best protected countries in cyber space.

Olympic Games: Brazil

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice they have offered the British Olympic Association regarding the potential health threat posed by the Zika virus to members of Team GB preparing in Brazil and competing at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: We are in regular contact with the British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association and our advice to them is in line with the Government's travel advice. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has updated its travel advice to affected countries, referring people to the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) or to their medical professionals, if they have concerns. NaTHNaC has published specific advice for women who are pregnant to seek advice from a health professional before travel, and to consider avoiding travel to areas where Zika outbreaks are ongoing. Government continues to monitor the situation closely.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Gender Recognition

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many accounts on Department for Work and Pensions databases have special restrictions on them to protect the confidentiality of trans individuals.

Lord Freud: DWP takes many steps to protect the personal and sensitive information that citizens provide to us, and will apply additional protections to records that, for a variety of reasons, may require it. DWP does not routinely maintain specific counts of these cases and the numbers can fluctuate. However, it is possible to state that in June 2015 DWP applied such controls to approximately 8,000 records relating to individuals at the various stages of gender transition.

Personal Care Services

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why beauty clinics undertaking nail care are not required to use autoclaves to sterilise their equipment to prevent fungal infections.

Baroness Altmann: The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 require businesses offering beauty treatments to ensure that any risks to their client’s health from exposure to hazardous substances including micro-organisms, are prevented or effectively controlled. The duty extends to preventing or controlling client’s exposure to the risk of contracting fungal infections. The regulations do not prescribe what specific control measures are necessary. These will be based on the type of treatment carried out and the risks of cross-infection.   Where sterilisation is required, autoclaves are the most effective and efficient means to do so, and should be used especially for packaged items and items which have hollow parts or cavities. However alternative methods such as steam sterilisers and disinfectants can be used for simple items such as tweezers.

Department for Work and Pensions: Legislation

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in the Department for Work and Pensions on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord Freud: There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments　laid　since 2010　or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that　the　number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked　at 1,885　in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Home Country Nationals

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many persons for whom the British armed forces had a duty of care have been admitted to the UK for settlement in each year since 2001; and what sums of compensation have been paid for resettlement in other countries in that same period.

Earl Howe: I am responding with figures relating to Iraqi and Afghan civilian personnel employed by HM Armed Forces and admitted for settlement to the UK. Admissions date from 2008 and have taken place under ex gratia arrangements rather than on the basis of a duty of care. A total of 1,323 Iraqi civilians have been relocated to the UK since the locally engaged staff (LES) assistance scheme was announced in 2007. This total comprises 367 former locally engaged staff and 956 dependants. Total2008171200962720101302011720121252013139201469201537201618TOTAL1,323  Nearly 500 Afghan former LES are eligible to apply for relocation to the UK with their immediate families under the Afghan LES Ex Gratia Redundancy scheme, which was announced on 4 June 2013. 573 people, comprising 249 locally engaged staff and 324 dependants, have relocated to the UK up to the end of January 2016. Total2014552015482201636*Total573*as at 31 January 2016 A number of Iraqi and Afghan former LES will have claimed asylum after entering the UK outside of the ex gratia arrangements; however, the relevant data is not held centrally.We are not aware that any payments have been made for the resettlement of Iraqi or Afghan civilians to other countries.

Army: Females

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in the integration of female soldiers into close combat units in the Army.

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what infrastructure preparations have been made for the integration of female soldiers into close combat units in the Army; and what is their estimate of the cost of any such preparations to date.

Earl Howe: Women are currently excluded from serving in ground close combat roles in the Infantry and Royal Armoured Corps, the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force Regiment. The Prime Minister stated on 20 December 2015 that he would like to see all roles in the Armed Forces opened up to women in 2016. Further physiological research currently under way will inform a final decision in mid-2016. The review "Women in Ground Close Combat" has identified the principle of full integration as a vital element in generating cohesion in combat troops. The subsequent infrastructure work required is being considered as part of ongoing implementation planning, in the event that the exclusion is lifted. Early estimates from the 2014 research paper suggest that a fully integrated solution at the Army's Infantry Training Centre at Catterick could cost up to £1.6 million. Once a final decision is taken, the Department will be able to identify and cost a fully integrated long-term solution as required.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Council Tax Reduction Schemes

Baroness Scott of Needham Market: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are planning to take to ensure that council tax billing authorities pass on to parish and town councils the council tax support funding provided for those councils by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Local Council Tax Support schemes are designed and implemented by billing authorities. It is for them to determine the appropriate amount to pass on to parish and town councils. Ultimately, these are local decisions based on local circumstances, so where money is not passed down, the authority must justify their decision to local taxpayers.

HM Treasury

Financial Services: North Korea

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 2 February (HL5230), what assessment they have made of whether any North Korean banks or businesses that have no relationship to North Korea’s nuclear programme, or programmes related to other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles, have direct or indirect access to the UK’s financial system, and whether any UK banks provide financial services to (1) North Korean individuals or entities, or (2) any third-party banks or entities, not linked to such programmes.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: In 2006 the United Nations imposed restrictions on a range of goods from entering or leaving North Korea and imposed a travel ban and asset freeze against those persons designated as persons who engage in or provide support for North Korea’s nuclear-related, other weapons of mass destruction related and ballistic missile-related programmes. These restrictions were implemented in the EU in 2007, and have subsequently been expanded by the EU. Under the current EU Regulation, UK financial institutions are able to establish banking relationships with North Korean banking institutions if there are no reasonable grounds to believe this will contribute to North Korea’s nuclear-related, other weapons of mass destruction related or ballistic missile-related programmes. In practice, there are almost no financial links between the UK and North Korea. North Korea is almost wholly dependent on China for international assistance.

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what specific benefits are covered by the proposed safeguard mechanism set out in paragraph 2(b) of Section D of the draft Decision of the European Council published on 2 February; in particular, whether (1) Child Tax Credit, (2) Working Tax Credit, and (3) Housing Credit will be included in the proposed restrictions on access to in-work benefits.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: Details of the proposals for restricting in-work benefits for EU nationals will be subject to further negotiation and we cannot speculate on these.

Government Departments: Cheques

Lord Knight of Weymouth: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 1 February (HL5090 and HL5091), whether they will now provide the direct link to that information, and why they did not provide that link in those answers.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The relevant information is available at “Box A5.6D : money transmission services ranked in order of choice” in the Treasury guidance on “Managing Public Money”.

IRA: Taxation

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have an agreement or understanding with the IRA that there will be no attempts to stop or bring to court its members on charges relating to tax fraud in South Armagh.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The government does not have any agreement or understanding in place with the IRA.

Treasury: Legislation

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in HM Treasury on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments laid since 2010 or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that the number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked at 1,885 in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.

Aviation: Excise Duties

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how much revenue would be raised if aviation fuel were subject to the same rate of tax as fuel for motor vehicles.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: In accordance with its bilateral Air Service Agreements, the 1944 Chicago Convention and EU law, the UK does not tax aviation fuel. Consequently, no such assessments have been made.

Aviation: Taxation

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how much revenue would be raised if all air fares for aircraft departing from UK airports were subject to a tax at 20 per cent.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: Such a form of taxation would be in breach of the UK’s obligations under its bilateral Air Service Agreements, the 1944 Chicago Convention and EU law. Consequently, no such assessment has been made.

Air Passenger Duty

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of how much revenue will be raised from Air Passenger Duty this financial year, and how much would need to be raised to compensate for the loss of fuel tax and VAT on air fares.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The government expects APD to raise £3.1 billion over the financial year 2015-16. In accordance with the long standing 1944 Chicago Convention, its bilateral Air Service Agreements and EU law, the UK does not tax aviation fuel or charge VAT on air fares. Consequently, the government does not consider this lost revenue and no such estimates have been made.

Cabinet Office

Public Records

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 3 February (HL4852), whether they aim to release the official records from 1987 relating to the ban on the publication of Spycatcher that year; and if not, when they expect those records will be released to the National Archives under the 20-year rule.

Lord Bridges of Headley: As set out in my answer to the noble Lord on 3 February, the Cabinet Office is actively reviewing its remaining 1987 and 1988 files and is seeking to complete this work as quickly as possible. It would be premature to comment about what will be released until this work is complete.

Department of Health

NHS: Management Consultants

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the intention of NHS Improvement to commission management consultancies to work with turnaround trusts is consistent with their aim to limit the use of such consultancies by NHS organisations.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether NHS Improvement, in commissioning management consultancies to work with turnaround trusts, will exclude those consultancies which were engaged in any failed initiatives from the previous round of consultancy-driven financial recovery initiatives.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The guidance for use of management consultancies is set out as part of the spending approvals process. Monitor has published the following guidance for foundation trusts “Consultancy spending approval process: Initial guidance to NHS foundation trusts” with the Trust Development Authority (TDA) publishing similar for NHS trusts “Consultancy spending controls: Initial Guidance to NHS Trusts”. Copies of the guidance are attached.The guidance is clear that expenditure on management consultancy must demonstrate that the skills and expertise of advisors cannot be delivered through use of existing resources. It is also a requirement that value for money must be demonstrated. This approach is the same for NHS providers, NHS Improvement or any NHS organisation. Therefore we are content NHS Improvement’s approach to managing turnaround programmes is consistent with this requirement. NHS Improvement ensures that lessons learned from all financial turnaround programmes are taken into account when considering how to handle any financially challenged providers requiring turnaround actions in the future. This includes the use of the best available, most appropriate consultancies with the right blend of skills and experience required to deliver the turnaround programme. 



Monitor guidance
(PDF Document, 120.12 KB)




TDA guidance
(PDF Document, 235.46 KB)

NHS: Management Consultants

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they propose to cap the rates paid by NHS bodies to management consultancies, similar to their policy with regard to staff agencies.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Cabinet Office have published guidance on the use of management consultants Cabinet Office controls guidance: version 4.0 which government departments and their arms length bodies are required to follow. A copy of the guidance is attached. National Health Service providers follow a similar consultancy spending approvals process as defined by Monitor and the Trust Development Authority (TDA). Monitor has published the following guidance for foundation trusts Consultancy spending approval process: Initial guidance to NHS foundation trusts, with TDA publishing similar for NHS trusts Consultancy spending controls: Initial Guidance to NHS Trusts. Copies of the guidance are attached. At this time, these do not include any directive to set caps on rates paid to management consultancies.



Cabinet Office guidance
(PDF Document, 100.37 KB)




Monitor guidance
(PDF Document, 120.12 KB)




TDA guidance
(PDF Document, 235.46 KB)

Prescriptions: Students

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many university students aged 19 to 25 use the NHS low-income scheme.

Lord Prior of Brampton: 73,591 NHS low-income scheme applications were processed in 2015, for England, Scotland and Wales, where the claimant was a student aged between 19 and 25; determined by the age of the main claimant on the date the application was processed. The data may not include students aged 19 - 25 where their partner is the claimant. No distinction is made between a student attending further or higher education. It is possible that a claimant might submit more than one application annually. A breakdown of the numbers of these applications resulting in full Help with Help Cost support is not available.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultations took place with the government of New Zealand prior to their decision to introduce new charges for New Zealand citizens for health and dental treatment in the UK from 6 April.

Lord Prior of Brampton: On 6 April 2015 the United Kingdom introduced an immigration health surcharge for non-European Economic Area nationals who come to the UK to temporarily reside for a period of over six months. At the time New Zealand nationals were granted a temporary exemption and we entered into a series of discussions with the New Zealand Government on the introduction of the surcharge for its nationals. The Secretary of State for Health wrote to the New Zealand High Commissioner confirming introduction of the surcharge on 17 December 2015. Introduction of the surcharge for New Zealand nationals was publicly announced by the Home Office on 4 February 2016 and subject to Parliamentary approval, it will come into effect from 6 April 2016.

Department of Health: Legislation

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in the Department of Health on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord Prior of Brampton: There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments laid since 2010 or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that the number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked at 1,885 in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.